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Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

If you're impatient, jump to the conclusion. To be clear, this thread is referring to those devices which adhere to the surface of bass drum batter heads and which contain hard plastic or metal disks.

The Click Pad

The purpose of the click pad is simple: To increase attack. Increasing the attack is useful for increasing articulation and definition of the notes you're playing. This allows you to play fast and complex bass drum patterns without losing the clarity of your notes.

Many people make the mistake of over-dampening their bass drums when they use click pads. This happens because the type of people who are interested in click pads likely already have a lot of muffling in their bass drum because they want that punchy, articulate tone.

In Application

This is how you use the click pad, starting with the heads off the drum:

Put new head on drum (put nothing inside for dampening)

Tighten both heads until the wrinkles come out, no more (Bob Gatzen style. Youtube it)

Apply click pad to batter head

Secure in place with clear masking tape. Be VERY conservative with the tape. Use four strips to make a box around the pad. Use a minimal amount.

Let the drum sit overnight

Tune it again in the morning; ensure it is tuned as low as possible

Listen to the drum

Apply muffling / change tuning as needed

As long as you have quality heads and have tuned your drums properly, you will find that the drum possess a fat, full tone and a distinct hard attack. The end result is a bass drum which is full and fat while still maintaining definition and clarity. Indeed, it can be used to great effect.

Cutting Holes in the Resonant Head

cutting a hole in the resonant head has many effects. Essentially what it does is allow air pressure to escape out of the drum rather than remain stuck inside. This will have the effect of shortening the sustain and trading out some deep bass tone for hard attack.

The position of the hole is of great importance. To maximize attack, punch, and definition, one would position their hole directly in the center of the head. To make more modest changes to the deep bass tone of the head, position the head further toward the outside of the head.

Larger holes allow air to escape more readily, and so also contribute to the shortening of sustain and the trade of deep bass tone for attack.

The most attack-heavy bass drum setup possible would include a batter head with a click pad and a resonant head with a large hole in the middle of the head. Minimal dampening. Your audience with experience this bass drum like a strong kick to the stomach.

Burying the Beater: Uncomfortable Vibrations

"Burying the beater" refers to the way in which some drummers will play a note on the bass drum and leave the beater in contact with the head after the initial impact.

Burying the beater has the effect of choking the drum and killing the sustain. In some situations it is useful, however most of the time it produces strange overtones out of the drum.

When a drummer buries the beater while using click pads, the pads will vibrate against the beaters and cause vibrations. These vibrations are both physically uncomfortable and sonically unappealing.

Conclusion

The click pad is capable of providing a fat, full tone while maintaining clarity and articulation.

The click pad provides considerable dampening by itself, and should be paired with minimal muffling.

Cutting a hole in the resonant head will increase the effect of the pad.

Burying the beater causes vibrations which are uncomfortable and sonically unappealing.

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Feb 2011

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atlanta

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3,544

Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

hey IA nice how to lesson. You're right about it creating more volume. I hadn't used one for years and put one on before we went in to record to get use to it. Man I'm very happy I did. So much more attack. We played last night and sound guy couldn't get over how good the drums sounded.

I too play my kick with nothing inside. A 24x18 Yamaha Turbo Tour. Love that sucker.

This is my beef with the click pad I bought. It's a Danmar double click. It stayed in place for about two weeks before the outside edges around the metal discs started tearing. It got so bad the discs finally fell out of the patch sleeve. They are now taped on with duct tape and I hate it. I gotta get a new one, the tape doesn't work for me. Why can't they make one with a gorilla glue backing and something that won't tear. I feel the same thing is going to happen with a new one.

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Canada

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1,039

Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

clean the location of your click pad with rubbing alcohol before you stick it to the head..i have never had one fall off and alcohol does not burn a hole in your head. I find the heads last about a million times longer with a click pad attached.

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Central Florida

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Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

I've never heard it explained that simply before---I have a 22x14 kick with a black suede Powerstroke 3 and a flame graphic reso with a 6" center port---both heads are tuned JAW, and I have nothing inside. I used the plastic side of the beaters at first, but it was a bit much for my small studio so I switched to the felt side, and I love the sound---I have been thinking about trying a click pad, but after reading this explanation I don't feel it would take me in the right direction?

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Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

thanks Russ I'll do that next time but I'm starting to think it's jjust a matter of time before it falls apart.

I'm not the only one that it happens to. They actually get mediocre reviews because a lot of people say the same thing "they fall apart". But with what I'm playing right now I really like the extra attack.

I remeber taping a quarter to the batter back in the 80's lol it worked until the tape broke and the quarter bent.

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Harrisburg, PA

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9,624

Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

Originally Posted by slinky

hey IA nice how to lesson. You're right about it creating more volume. I hadn't used one for years and put one on before we went in to record to get use to it. Man I'm very happy I did. So much more attack. We played last night and sound guy couldn't get over how good the drums sounded.

I too play my kick with nothing inside. A 24x18 Yamaha Turbo Tour. Love that sucker.

This is my beef with the click pad I bought. It's a Danmar double click. It stayed in place for about two weeks before the outside edges around the metal discs started tearing. It got so bad the discs finally fell out of the patch sleeve. They are now taped on with duct tape and I hate it. I gotta get a new one, the tape doesn't work for me. Why can't they make one with a gorilla glue backing and something that won't tear. I feel the same thing is going to happen with a new one.

Couldn't you have just added the click sound in post? We did that to mine the first time I hit the studio. Gave me a very Pantera-like kick sound. Almost sounds triggered.

I'm always curious about how various drummer go about getting their sounds.

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Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

Hey Marko I asked Mat about the pad, if he liked them or not and he was glad I had one on. He told me that he normally puts a little click on the kick when mixing starts anyway.

I honestly didn't even think about adding it later. I don't know how time consuming that would've been. I completed all the drum parts the first day mainly because I had to. I couldn't go back the next day. It would've been fun to mess around with different sounds but we had a budget.

When they said we gotta put something inside the kick I about flipped out. He reassured me that it would still be beefy. So in went the stuffing. It looked like a comforter. All I was thinking was "You gotta be kidding me" but it worked so it's all good.

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Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

Hey Marko I asked Mat about the pad, if he liked them or not and he was glad I had one on. He told me that he normally puts a little click on the kick when mixing starts anyway.

I honestly didn't even think about adding it later. I don't know how time consuming that would've been. I completed all the drum parts the first day mainly because I had to. I couldn't go back the next day. It would've been fun to mess around with different sounds but we had a budget.

When they said we gotta put something inside the kick I about flipped out. He reassured me that it would still be beefy. So in went the stuffing. It looked like a comforter. All I was thinking was "You gotta be kidding me" but it worked so it's all good.

Ya I have no idea how long it takes either, the engineer just did it in post to mine. I had no idea he was going to do it. But I liked it and we went with it. There are so many studio tricks, aren't there?

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Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

it's endless. I was getting tired just watching him work the computer above the board. He was clicking the mouse on this and that and over here and over there and all I was thinking was "please don't hit the wrong button or click the wrong thing what if it all gets erased somehow" but he's been in that chair for nine years.

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West Michigan

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Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

Yeah I've always had problems with adhesion and durability. I use gorilla tape around the outside nowadays, the narrow 1" stuff. I've also considered removing the actual plastic parts and securing them to the head with contact cement, but I don't like how permanent that seems.

Regardless, I think that they last longer than fabric patches.

I have tried Gibraltar, Sound Percussion, and Danmar. None seem to last any longer or adhere any better the the others.

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Portland, Maine

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Re: Click / Impact Pads: How to use them

Originally Posted by slinky

hey IA nice how to lesson. You're right about it creating more volume. I hadn't used one for years and put one on before we went in to record to get use to it. Man I'm very happy I did. So much more attack. We played last night and sound guy couldn't get over how good the drums sounded.

I too play my kick with nothing inside. A 24x18 Yamaha Turbo Tour. Love that sucker.

This is my beef with the click pad I bought. It's a Danmar double click. It stayed in place for about two weeks before the outside edges around the metal discs started tearing. It got so bad the discs finally fell out of the patch sleeve. They are now taped on with duct tape and I hate it. I gotta get a new one, the tape doesn't work for me. Why can't they make one with a gorilla glue backing and something that won't tear. I feel the same thing is going to happen with a new one.

I use to use the same pad with wooden beaters. I also ended up duct taping it to my drum head. I ran the tap over the top, bottom and two sides of the patch making sure that the beater would not hit the tape. It worked out nicely/